The planned return of Sarbjit Kaur, a 48‑year‑old Sikh woman from Punjab who went missing during a religious visit to Pakistan. She has been thrown into fresh uncertainty amid legal and diplomatic hurdles, after an emotional audio clip emerged on social media. Authorities in Pakistan initiated deportation proceedings against her after her pilgrim visa expired. However, her formal handover at the Wagah–Attari border was halted due to incomplete documentation and pending legal formalities, despite immigration clearances being largely completed.
Recent reports indicate that Kaur is currently being held in a women’s shelter home in Lahore under police protection while courts in Pakistan consider multiple petitions related to her stay and deportation. An audio recording circulating on the social platform X appears to capture Kaur emotionally pleading with her ex‑husband to help her return to India, saying she had originally travelled to Pakistan to get some photographs removed that were in the possession of Nasir Hussain. This recording has led to public interest and concern, though its authenticity has not been verified. The case has sparked intense discussion on both sides of the border and the safety of pilgrims travelling abroad.
Cases like Sarabjeet Kaur’s have raised alarms about misuse of pilgrimage visas. Intelligence reports and media highlight patterns where social media grooming leads to blackmail, forced conversions, and marriages, exploiting pilgrims’ access to sites like Kartarpur or Nankana Sahib.
Sarabjeet Kaur case
Sarabjeet Kaur from Punjab’s Kapurthala traveled to Pakistan in 2023 as part of a Sikh jatha under the protocol but vanished upon return, later marrying a local man, Nasir Hussain, after alleged conversion to Islam. Her family claims she was honey-trapped online, blackmailed with compromising videos recorded at gunpoint, and coerced into marriage, now trapped in a Lahore shelter pleading for repatriation. The Lahore High Court is probing visa misuse, but Pakistan’s Interior Ministry delays her NOC, leaving her stranded as of January 2026.
India-Pakistan bilateral religious agreement
The India-Pakistan bilateral religious agreement primarily refers to the 1974 Protocol on Visits to Religious Shrines, a pact enabling pilgrims from both nations to access specified holy sites across borders without religious discrimination. This agreement lists five key shrines in India, such as Ajmer Sharif Dargah and Nizamuddin Dargah, and 15 in Pakistan, mostly Sikh gurdwaras like Nankana Sahib and Kartarpur Sahib, with up to 20 pilgrimage groups allowed annually per side, subject to mutual revisions.
Pilgrims receive facilitated visas for visits tied to religious occasions, with host countries obligated to maintain shrine sanctity and security. Related developments include the 2019 Kartarpur Sahib Corridor agreement, renewed in 2024 for five more years (expiring 2029), allowing visa-free daily access for up to 5,000 Indian Sikhs to Gurdwara Darbar Sahib, though a 20 dollar service fee persists despite Indian objections. Discussions since 2022 have explored expansions like air travel and additional sites, but progress remains limited amid tensions.
Impact on Indians
Indian pilgrims, especially Sikhs, Muslims, and Hindus, gain easier access to ancestral worship sites in Pakistan, fostering cultural and spiritual continuity over 250,000 have used Kartarpur since 2019. It promotes people-to-people ties despite geopolitical strains, as seen in 2025 permissions for Sikh jathas to attend Guru Nanak events via land routes. However, security concerns occasionally halt visas, and fees/logistics add burdens, while no broad policy shifts affect non-pilgrims.